Best of 2012

6) Evoken - Atra Mors

Evoken have been around for a long time. They're one of the bands that originally defined funeral doom and with every release they contribute more ideas for other members of the genre to take influence from. Bands like this are untouchable because they're not trying to compose music for the sake of music. They're trying to express very personal emotions as accurately as they possibly can. And with age and experience the emotions the band is trying to express become more complex, having a direct relation to the complexity and texture of each new release. So in that respect, in the respect of creating crushingly emotional music, Evoken can do no wrong.

I would be dishonest by omission if I didn't mention my one criticism of this album. I've spent months trying  to lock down exactly how to describe this criticism and this is the best I can come up with: The production is confusing... I honestly don't think it's poorly done or mishandled. It might very well be that whoever did the final mix had the intention of confusing fans like me. It might contribute to the overall other-worldly, spacious environment the composers had in mind. Some parts have gobs of reverb, some parts are crystal clear, some parts strike with almost preemptive attack, some parts have strange pre-delays, the drums sound damp in the mix, the guitar has no mid-range presence whatsoever. All of this confuses me, and for the longest time I wanted to say it distracts from the overall experience. It could have been more organic, cohesive. But, I do feel this album, it does effect me in a profound way, and it's possible that is partly due to the tactics used in production. I've never heard an album like this before and I wouldn't be surprised if my confusion evolves into a deep admiration given more time.